CHESAPEAKE, VA (WTKR)- Indian River football seemed to peak at almost exactly the right time in 2023. Now the Braves are back and looking to build on a memorable campaign.
The high mark of Indian River's season came in the Region 5A title game, when the Braves hit the road and upset previously unbeaten Green Run, 10-7. That's a great building block for 2024 and Brandon Carr and his team are entering the campaign with one message.
"Putting in the work to help us climb the mountain," Carr said. "That's our mantra, our motto for the year."
The Braves would see their season come to an end the following weekend in the Class 5 state semifinals, falling to eventual champion Maury. Indian River finished 10-4, just two wins away from reaching the peak. This time around, an experienced group comes into the season hungry to complete the climb.
"We were right there, almost at the top of the mountain and we didn't quite make it," Carr pointed out. "That's the idea, to kind of just finish and get to the top of that mountain this year."
"Getting over adversity, things that we have to work on and getting better," added senior wide receiver and defensive back Tre'Veion Slaughter on the team's motto.
"Stay focused," senior running back Ravon Moore said. "Every day we want to get better. One percent better every day. That's the goal."
The team enjoyed its taste of success last season. Now the Braves enter motivated and wanting more.
"The buy-in is a lot better because they see the work we put in last year and how it paid off," Carr noted. "Now they're hungry and they're bought in and they're flying around doing what's asked of them."
"That gave us a lot of confidence for what we can do this year," said Slaughter. "We have some returners coming back, so we know we can repeat what we did and even more."
Now begins the hopeful journey back up, but 2024 will feature a different mountain and a different path to the top. Indian River enters the campaign with a target on its back as the defending region champion, so the Braves won't sneak up on anybody.
"Everything we did, I talk to them all the time, that's behind us," declared Carr. "We're moving on. We've got a new mountain to climb this year and that's our focus."
If the team can reach the top in December, the Braves will enjoy a view the program has not seen since 1995- a state championship.
"The sky's the limit for this team," Carr said. "They're talented, they're hungry, they're energetic, they're starving to get better, get coached. It's all about what they want to do."
"Outside of football, inside of football, states. That's the goal for us," Moore said.
Indian River kicks off its season August 29 on the road at Varina.
